


maybe tonight i won't be alone

by weasleyspotter



Series: Ward x Simmons Tumblr Prompts [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, F/M, Mostly an excuse to have Jemma and Grant get furious with each other, but there's nothing explicit in this fic, just implied situations, which of course leads to some adult situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 16:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1232662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleyspotter/pseuds/weasleyspotter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Fitz moves out suddenly leaving Jemma on the brink of homelessness, she's desperate enough to allow Skye's older stoic brother (who she's heard a lot of not so nice things from Fitz about) to move in with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	maybe tonight i won't be alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alessandralee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/gifts), [TinyBat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyBat/gifts).



> Started as a simple five sentence prompt for an AU meme on tumblr, and after a night of Alessandra and Amanda badgering me about what happened next. This ended up a lot more fluffy than I intended it to be, but domestic Ward x Simmons, speaks to me.

i.

She puts out the ad for a roommate after Fitz announces that he’s moving out in order to move in with Skye. He’s so proud when he announces the news to her that she can’t bare to express anything but unrestrained enthusiasm even though the panic is starting to overwhelm her. They rented the more expensive apartment in the nice neighborhood because he was going to live with her. Without him, she wouldn’t be able to afford the rent.

She gets a couple calls about the room, even a few that seem promising, but no one can seems to be able to afford the rent and works well with her personality. She’s almost ready to settle for a cheaper apartment when Skye offers a solution.

"My brother just moved into town, he’s looking for a place, I could give you his number. I know that you’ve got a couple guys lined up, but it’d be really nice to have him closer. And he’s such a snob; I can’t find a place that he likes. Seriously Jemma, you’d be doing me a huge favor." As easy as it would be turn down Skye in a flash, because as much as Jemma approves of Skye, there’s a small part of her that hates Skye for taking away Fitz and leaving her on the brink of homelessness.

Jemma also considers turning town Skye’s offer, because Skye is lovely, but Jemma’s not sure she could handle living with Skye, or at least a male version of Skye quite yet. She hears about stories of Jemma’s older brother Grant from Fitz who Fitz claims hates him, but Jemma thinks he’s being a bit too hard on himself. Fitz works with Grant at a security-consulting firm, and Grant was the one that set up Skye and Fitz (accidentally). And since then, Grant has not been Fitz’s fan.

Fitz pleads with her to turn down Skye’s offer, because he claims that having Grant closer just opens them up for inspection. And Jemma’s fully prepared to turn the man down, because she doesn’t live with men that make her best friend uncomfortable.

But when the tall dark haired man steps through her door, impeccably dressed, Jemma considers that she might just make an exception.

For Skye, of course.

ii.

It’s almost a relief when he proclaims, “That’s all,” when she mentions the cost of rent. He sits on the edge of her couch, looking around the apartment. He looks almost uncomfortable, like he doesn’t belong on the couch in the living room in their (her) apartment.

She offers to show him Fitz’s old room (now his room, she assumes). It’s the bigger of the two rooms and comes with a built in bathroom, and it means that the rent is a bit more expensive for him. She assumes that he’ll be at least a bit more impressed with the room, but he stares at it blankly for a few moments, before he says finally, “This will do.”

She bits back the defensive retorts that bubble up in her chest, because this place is more than adequate. She wants to tell him off, but she needs him to stay, so she merely smiles and asks as politely as she possibly can. “When will you be moving in?”

iii.

He moves on when she’s away at work, so when she gets home, it’s almost like his presence has just appeared in her apartment. It’s subtle, difficult to notice at first glance because his possessions don’t seem to appear much outside of his room. Except for one thing. A set of weights in the corner of the living room. 

She can’t explain why the gray metal stand holding a set of weights infuriates her, but it doesn’t go with her nice beige and brown couch or her fluffy brown pillows. Or the replica Van Gough on her wall. And because it’s his apartment too, she can’t bloody well complain either.

(He hasn’t said one word about the cat photos that are up on his side of the hallway, so she feels like she doesn’t have a right to complain.)

He establishes a routine pretty quickly that works well with hers. He gets up early in the morning and goes for a run. Meanwhile she gets up, takes a shower, and gets ready for work. By the time he strides back into their apartment, sweaty and ready for a shower, she’s finishing up breakfast and heading out the door. Allowing them to cut out awkward unnecessary small talk.

On Saturday, however, she has no where to be, so when he walks in from his run, she’s sitting at the counter about the bite into a piece of toast with a thick layer of raspberry jam in her pajamas. He takes her off guard, not because it’s Saturday and she expected him to a have a lie in, not because she’s still in her pajamas covered in daises, but because he’s shirtless. She’s looking at his naked sweaty chest, and of course he has a six-pack.

She bites down on her toast. Hard.

iv.

She knows that he works with Fitz, which is about the extent of what she knows of his job.

She knows that Fitz works in security, that he creates systems that protect the most valuable things in the world.

Because Fitz takes to complaining about Ward so much, she assumes that Ward works in management or marketing or some other department that is hell bent on making Fitz’s life miserable. But one day, Ward comes into their apartment bruised and bleeding, and she instantly wipes away that notion.

“Are you okay?” She rushes towards him in concern.

“I’m fine,” he waves her off, limping towards his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

She resists the urge to follow him and insist that she will help him. He’s so infuriatingly pride filled she wants to strangle him. She calls Fitz instead and rants to him. Fitz laughs at the end of her monologue and reminds her that he did warn her about Ward.

“What does he do?” She asks at the end, when she remembers the reason behind her call.

“Oh he’s in testing,” Fitz explains. “He makes sure that all the systems work like they are supposed to. He’s good, finds all the flaws and perfects the little things. That’s why it’s infuriating to work with the bastard, but everyone recommends him because he’s the best.”

v.

She creates a chore chart after the first month, because she feels like too much goes unspoken between the two of them, and she never actually sees him clean but she knows that it wasn’t her who dusted the counters.

He’s sitting on the couch reading the paper when she strides up to him clutching the chart to her chest. It’s extremely rare to catch in the apartment outside of his room, and she’s determined to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Hem hem,” she clears her throat, and he looks up at her. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

“Okay,” he looks slightly taken aback, but he gestures beside him nonetheless.

“I have created a chore chart for the both of us, so we know whose turn it is for each chore. It prevents either of us from building up resentment at doing the same chore numerous amounts of times and it holds up responsible to helping out around the place,” she rushes out, nearly shoving the chart in his face.

He looks down at the laminated color coded chart she had spent the night creating and back up at her with a bemused expression. “Have I done something wrong?”

“What? No,” she exclaims, may be a bit too quickly because he raises an eyebrow at her. “No really, I just thought this would keep us more organized. And accountable. And---.”

“Keeps us from resenting each other?” He finishes for her.

“Yes,” she finishes.

“Fine,” he agrees, handing the chart back to her, turning back towards the paper.

“That’s it?” She asks incredulously, “No comments on the separate section for dusting and polishing. No quarrels for the assignments.”

“Jemma I don’t need a chart to tell me what to clean, I clean what I see needs cleaning, and I think it’s worked so far. But if you need this to satisfy some need to control, that’s fine with me.” He remarks from behind the paper.

“Excuse me,” she nearly screeches, standing up. “You don’t have to be rude. I made this chart in order to help this living relationship.”

“I’m not being rude,” he says simply, placing the paper down on the coffee table in front of them. “And I wasn’t aware that there was anything wrong with this living relationship.”

“How about the fact that I’m practically living with a stranger? When Fitz and I used to live together,” she begins.

“I am a stranger,” he cuts her off, standing up. “I’m not Fitz, Jemma. I’m not your best friend. I’m not even your friend. I’m your roommate. There’s no need to come up with all these rules to govern that.”

“Rules make things easier, they create boundaries,” she argues.

“I believe we have enough boundaries.” He says, before turning around and stalking out.

vi

Ward doesn’t have any annoying bachelor habits.

He barely adds to the decorations she’s already put up in the living room. No unnecessary posters of dogs playing poker, no DVD collections of porn or action films. He even rooms with the weight set to room within time.

He’s got a set of high-end culinary tools, however. Stainless steel pots and pans, a nice set of knives that take over her own, he’s even got a garlic masher.

They both cook for themselves, and after their fight over the chore chart (which goes up regardless of his opinion on it), they make an extra effort to avoid each other. The kitchen is the one place where they bump in to each other.

He’s making stir fry, when she pokes her head into the kitchen, her stomach grumbling. She’s about to curse at him for picking that exact moment to be cooking, when he makes eye contact with her. She darts behind the wall, cursing her self for the childish action.

“Do you need something?’

“Just wondering when you’ll be done with the kitchen,” she calls out, slapping her forehead against her hand.

He’s silent for a bit, long enough for her to poke her head out again. He’s standing in front of the cupboard, pulling out a plate. When he catches sight of her again, he gestures with the plate. She steps out, feeling uncomfortable at her actions.

“I was just wondering when I could start cooking,” she explains. “I don’t want to get in your way.”

“Maybe we should make a timetable for the kitchen,” he suggest sarcastically, with his back to here, as he loads up the plate with fried rice and stir fry. “Here,” he says turning around, holding out the plate to her.

“What?” She asks, hoping that he’s not expecting her to set the plate on the table for him.

“It’s for you.” He’s got a rare smile on his face, as if he’s found her question silly.

“For me?”

“No, for the next door neighbors.” His attempt at humor falls flat, but she appreciates the gesture nonetheless, so she takes the plate, with a mumbled thanks. He fills up another plate, with a portion size that’s two times her own, and sits besides her. She realizes that it’s probably the first time they’ve eaten together, or the most time they’ve spent with one another.

“It’s good,” she comments mid way through her meal. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“My mom taught me how to,” he explains, offering the first bit of news about himself.

“If Skye can cook like this too, then Fitz will be ecstatic.” She comments.

“Skye can’t cook for shit, my mom could never teach her.”

“Oh,” Jemma says softly.

“Look Jemma,” Ward sighs, “I wanted to apologize for what I said the other day. Skye and I were talking, and she thinks that maybe you took my words the wrong way. If you think we need a chore chart, I have no problem with it.”

She thinks back to the hours she spent complaining to Fitz about Ward’s jerkish responses and she wondered if any of those comments about his stupidity made it to Skye. She swallows that thought, before responding. “You’re entitled to your opinion, I didn’t mean to make it seem like the chore chart was anything but a suggestion, perhaps I shouldn’t have made it before consulting you.”

“Perhaps,” he muses.

“Well,” she pushes back from the counter, taking her plate to the sink and rinsing it before placing it in the dishwasher. “Thanks for the dinner, it was lovely.”

She’s walking back to her room when she swears she hears him reply. “It was my pleasure.”

vii.

“Have you killed him yet?” Fitz asks with a sort of unrestrained glee, as he bounces into her apartment.

“Hello, Fitz,” she greets him, as he ignores her, peering around for any signs of Ward.

“Seriously,” he turns towards her. “Where is he? Skye made me promise to get pictures.” He holds up his cellphones.

“Pictures? Pictures of what?”

“Pictures of you and Mr. Stick up his ass together, being roommates. Is he in his room?” Fitz asks, striding towards the closed door.

“No,” she stops him. “He’s not in.”

“Where is he?"

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “He doesn’t tell me where he’s going when he leaves. I’m not his minder.”

“But you’re his roommate, wouldn’t you need to know in case there’s some emergency situation where you need to locate him?”

She doesn’t dignify that with a response, and moves on to her DVD collection. Fitz and her had created a tradition of watching bad science fiction movies together in college, and the tradition had continued on. “Mega Piranha or Ice Spiders?”

“Mega Piranha,” he answers absentmindedly. “Ward has friends? No, I don’t think anyone can stand the guy.”

“He’s not that bad,” she argues half heartedly as she inserts the DVD into the machine.

“Jemma, you spent two hours on the phone with me last week complaining about how Ward kept reducing the heater.”

“True,” she acknowledges, settling into the couch. “But he’s not that bad. I even had dinner with him the other night—.”

“You had dinner with him,” Fitz laughs. “That must have been awkward. Did you two chit chat about your days?”

“No,” she snaps, a bit frustrated with Fitz. “He apologized for acting out over the chore chart.”

“Ward apologized?"

“Yes."

“You’re kidding,” he turns towards her.

“No, I’m not.” She turns away from Fitz attempting to focus on the film.

“Wow,” he draws out. “I didn’t even know sorry was in Ward’s vocabulary. Do you think he’s been replaced by aliens?”

“Fitz, please shut up. I’m trying to focus on the movie.”

“That’s the only explanation.” He assures himself. “Or you’re changing him. But aliens seems a bit more realistic, don’t you think?”

viii.

It’s surprisingly Jemma who makes the first mistake.

And it happens on a day that both of them are stressed out already.

She has a horrible day at the lab, dealing with lab techs that are inadequate and make her work so much harder than it needs to be. She just wants to hole up in her room under a mountain of pillows and blankets watching Doctor Who.

Ward stomps in when she’s gathering supplies from the kitchen for her shut in. She pauses for a moment, considering whether or not to go after him and offer to help yet again, but she knows that he’ll shut her out again.

She gathers up a every piece of junk food they have and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s that she picked up and barricades herself in her room. She’s midway through an episode when there’s a furious pounding on her door. She scrambles over the blankets and pillows to throw open the door. Ward stands on the other side, looking like his head is about to explode.

“Did you finish the orange juice?” He asks in a low voice.

“Yes,” she says slowly, unsure of her answer.

“Why didn’t you buy some more?” He asks pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I forgot,” she mumbles. Although she had gone to the store straight after work, she had forgotten to pick what she had planned the entire visit for in her anger. “I’ll pick some up tomorrow, I promise.”

“What’s the point,” he mumbles, turning around to stalk off. But this time she refuses to let him. She darts around him to stand right in his path. He looks down at her in surprise.

“I just told you that I promised to get it tomorrow, right?” She can’t help but raise her voice in her anger. “There’s no need to get snippy with me.”

“I’m not getting snippy with you.” Though his voice and stance say otherwise.

“I don’t know why you’re so upset,” she continues on. “It’s just orange juice.”

“It’s your job to buy the groceries according to the chore chart.” He points out. “I thought you created the chore chart in order to prevent these kinds of things.”

“So I made a mistake, big deal.” She brushes off, sort of wishing she had simply let him go.

“Which is what I pointed out, that’s all.”

“I don’t need you to point out my mistakes.” She folds her arms across her chest.

“If I didn’t remind you,” he points out, “you would have forgotten tomorrow as well.”

“You’re assuming, you don’t know that for sure.”

“Oh, I know,” he says pushing past her.

“Really? You have me pegged that well? After a few weeks of not talking, you think you know all about me?” She practically shouts after him, running to keep up.

“Yes,” he turns around quickly, taking her off guard. “I know that you prefer tea, but you drink a cup of coffee with milk every morning. I know that you like singing show tunes when you’re cleaning the apartment but you listen to classical music when you’re working. I know that you’re a hardworker, I know that you spend hours at a lab unappreciated. I know that you hate cleaning, but you can’t live with messes, so you clean obsessively. You have control issues, you have boundary issues. You’re shy, but you can’t stop talking whenever you’re interested in something, or furious at me. I know that Doctor Who is your comfort show, and you’re upset. And I know that if I didn’t remind you about the orange juice, you would have forgotten.”

There’s a pause as he finishes, where she doesn’t know how to respond. She wants to slap him for making so many assumptions about her, until she realizes that they’re all true.

And then she kisses him.

ix.

He makes her breakfast in the morning.

She expects it when she wakes up in his bed that he won’t be beside her. She always assumed that Ward would be a one-time (or a love them and leave them type, like Skye would say) man. And she knows that it makes it more awkward that they’re living together. But she’s a big girl, and she knows how to keep these things strictly professional (at least she thinks).

(So what if they had the best sex of her life last night. So what if it’s been a long time, and just the thought of him sends her into a spin. So what if she’s not sure she can control herself around him.)

She slides out of bed, throwing on pajamas that he had nearly ripped off her yesterday night and stumbles towards the kitchen for a cup of coffee. She pauses when she catches sight of him leaning against the kitchen counter in only pajama bottoms with a coffee mug in one hand and the paper in the other. There’s a frying pan with scrambled eggs resting on the counter and a small pile of pancakes next to it.

“Good morning,” he says, almost shyly. “Here,” he pushes the pancakes towards her.

She bypasses them for his lips.

x.

They settle into a new routine.

He gets up earlier, goes for a run, while she makes breakfast, then they eat together. They leave for work. She doesn’t take a risk by sneaking away to see him during work; the possibility of seeing Fitz is too great. And she doesn’t want to tell Fitz what’s going on with Ward unless she knows what’s going on. Whoever gets home first makes dinner; they eat together, before tumbling into bed together.

It scares her how easily he fits into her life, like he’s always been a part of her.

She wonders how big a hole he’s going to leave when he’s gone.

xi.

“You know there’s a correlation between our fights and how much sex we have,” she muses one afternoon, tracing random patterns into his chest.

“Really,” he snorts, staring upwards.

“Really,” she says slapping his chest lightly in an effort to make him take her more seriously. “We stopped fighting the night we first had sex. And since then, we’ve barely argued, except that one time that you didn’t want to take out the trash.”

“It was cold,” he whines, “and I could have taken it out the next day.”

“It wasn’t that cold, but that’s besides the point,” she brushes off.

He’s quiet for a moment. “Are you saying you seduced me in order to stop fighting with me?”

“I seduced you?” She asks incredulously. “You were the one that used to walk around half naked all the time.”

“You kissed me first,” he retorts.

“To shut you up,” she says.

“And you just proved my point.”

She huffs for a moment, attempting to find a retort, pulling away from him.

“Are you mad at me?” He asks, she can almost hear the humor in his voice.

“No.” She says, although she is.

“You realize we’re fighting about whether or not sex stopped us from fighting.”

“Yes,” she sniffs.

“You know what we have to do right?” He emits a long-suffering sigh.

She can’t help but let the smile creep across her face. “What do we do?”

“I think I should show you,” he says, sliding her towards him, capturing her mouth in a searing kiss, effectively ending the argument.

xii.

Fitz proposes to Skye, and they both know it’s coming.

When the call comes at three in the morning and Jemma answers it to Skye’s high pitch scream, she knows immediately what happened. “Congratulations,” she says blearily. “How do you like the ring?” She had been there when Fitz had spent hours painstakingly picked it out.

“It’s gorgeous, and massive.” She trills. “I love it!”

“Congratulations, again. But Skye’s, it’s the three in the morning and I need some sleep.”

“But don’t you want to hear how it happened.” She can almost hear the pout through the phone.

“Over lunch tomorrow?” She mumbles sleepily.

“Fine,” she agrees quickly, “but only because I have more people to call. Good night.”

“Good night,” Jemma mumbles, even after Skye’s hung up.

“Who is it?” Grant whispers sleepily in her ear as she tosses her phone to the side.

“Your sister,” Jemma explains, closing her eyes. “She’ll be calling you soon.” She says as Grant’s phone begins vibrating. “There she is.”

She zones out of the first part of their conversation, waking up again when Skye’s scream echoes over Grant’s phone. Grant cuts her off with a harsh whisper, “Be quiet, Skye. It’s three in the morning.”

“Why do you care?” Skye questions. “It’s only you on your end, and Fitz on my end.”

Grant is quiet for a moment too long, and it’s enough for Skye to latch on to.

“Is someone with you?”

“Goodnight Skye,” Grant enunciates.

“Wait, Grant, I didn’t know you have a Girlfriend.” She wonders if Fitz is beside Skye questioning the same thing but in a very different tone.

“Good night.” He says again before hanging up the phone, and turning into her again.

Although they haven’t agreed outright not to tell Fitz and Skye that they were involved in any sort of way, it goes unspoken that no is not a good time to tell them either way.

xiii.

Fitz goes out of his way to try and ask her about Grant’s new girlfriend.

She’s been steadfast ignoring him since they started sleeping together, because she didn’t want to lie to him. But he had been insistent after the phone call debacle. He invites he out for lunch and refuses to take no for an answer.

“Does Ward have a new girlfriend?” He launches at her when she’s within hearing distance.

“I’m not sure.” She prepared herself for the barrage of questions that sure to follow.

“You’re not sure, as in you don’t know if he has someone in his life or you’re not sure the someone in his life counts as a girlfriend?”

“I’m not sure if he has someone in his life. You know Grant, he doesn’t share his personal life with me.” She flips through the menu in attempt at nonchalance.

“You called him Grant,” Fitz’s eyes narrow.

“Yeah,” she rolls her eyes. “That’s his name.”

“I’ve never heard anyone call him by his first name except for Skye.”

“Fitz, he is my roommate, not my bunk mate in the military. There’s no need to be so formal,” she brushes off. She had stopped calling him Ward when they started having sex, and although the transition was tentative at first, she found that she was more comfortable around him when she called him Grant. It was like breaking down one of the walls they had put up between them.

“Well,” Fitz says picking up his menu. “You’ll let me know if you see a girl with Ward. Can you imagine Ward with a girlfriend? I’m sure he wins the award for worst boyfriend of the year. I’m sure he’d forget all the anniversaries; he doesn’t care about emotions so long talks are out of the question. And perhaps he’s got such a gruff exterior in order to make up for a few inadequacies.”

Jemma pinches her thigh and grinds down on her teeth in effort not to respond. “Are you going to have the Kale salad?” She grounds out. “Because that’s what I was eyeing.”

Fitz latches onto the subject change mercifully, debating whether or not to enjoy the chance to eat meat because Skye was a vegetarian at the moment and had insisted that Fitz join her in the venture. He had surmised that Jemma wouldn’t tell Skye if he had cheated, but Jemma wasn’t feeling particularly gracious in the moment.

Weeks ago, she would have believed that Fitz was right. She would have thought that Grant would make the worst boyfriend ever. He didn’t interact; he barely even made eye contact. And he was infuriating whenever they did talk, always to argue.

But in the weeks since they started being together, she had discovered a different side of him. He was sweet, kind, and thoughtful. He spent time with her. He usually acquiesced to what she wanted to do because he claimed he had no preference. And she knew for fact that he was not lacking anything at all in the bedroom.

The urge to defend him bubbles up in her chest, but she tampers it down as she looks at Fitz. Fitz had always been protective of her. They had grown up single children and had become friends in college. For the start, he was like the twin she had never had.

He wouldn’t see a relationship with Grant as a good thing, or a thing to at least be happy for her for. He would see it as a betrayal.

xiv.

Skye corners her outside of work, and Jemma sighs immediately.

“If you want to know whether or not Grant has a girlfriend or not, or whether I actually know or not, please ask Fitz because I refuse to engage in that conversation again.” Jemma says as Skye approaches her.

“What?” Skye asks bemused. “No, that’s not what I was going to ask,” she states wringing her arms. Jemma pauses for a moment, taking in Skye’s state. She’s nervous, and Jemma’s never seen Skye nervous before.

“Is everything okay?” She asks Skye.

“Everything’s fine,” Skye assures her. “I just want to ask you something.”

“Okay,” Jemma stops, facing Skye. “Ask.”

“Over coffee?” Skye suggests.

They get coffee at the shop around the corner, and Skye grabs them a small table in the middle of the shop. They sit in silence for a moment, with Skye absently stirring her creamy coffee and Jemma staring at Skye waiting for her to start talking.

“Leo and I were talking about the wedding,” Skye begins. “And it occurred to me that I don’t have any close female friends for the maid of honor.”

“Okay,” Jemma says slowly.

“In fact the closest person in my life is Grant, and I guess somehow I always imagined that if I got married, he’d be up there with me, by my side. And when I told Leo that, he said the same about you.”

Jemma’s touched, but not surprised. She had often assumed the same of Fitz.

“Leo and I realized that we had two people that we wanted to share our wedding with, and it seemed prudent that we make it work. So,” Skye trails off, looking down at her coffee.

“So,” Jemma prompts.

“Leo and I were, well I was, wondering if you’d be my maid of honor.” Skye whispers out the last part.

Suddenly Jemma understands why Skye’s so nervous. Skye had never been a good friend to Jemma. They had gotten along well enough and she approved for Skye for Fitz, they made a good couple. But they didn’t spend a lot of time together, and Jemma wasn’t sure that the maid of honor was supposed to be closer with the groom.

“Oh Jemma,” Skye pleads. “Please. I know that you’re busy with work, and you’ve already done me a favor by letting my brother live with you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I could really use your help with all this planning stuff. Fitz says you’re really good at all this, and I’m so lost. I don’t even know how to begin.”

“Skye,” Jemma cuts her off, with a soft smile. “I’d be honored.”

It really was a nice gesture, and Jemma does like Skye.

“Really,” Skye smiles widely. “Oh thank you.” She lunges over the table, nearly knocking over the coffee cups, wrapping Jemma in an awkward hug.

“No problem,” Jemma coughs out, awkwardly patting Skye on the back.

Skye pulls away. “So what’s this about my brother have a girlfriend?”

xv.

When she gets home, he’s mid way through cooking a meal.

“Guess what Skye asked me today?” She trills out, hopping onto the counter.

“She asked you to be her maid of honor?” Grant guesses, not looking up from the cutting board.

“She asked me to be her,” Jemma begins, stopping when she realized what Grant had said. “Wait, how did you know?”

“Fitz gave me the same speech earlier today. Though I think his speech might have been a lot more forced than Skye’s.”

“He asked you to be his best man,” Jemma asks with a large smile.

“Yeah,” Grant looks up at her.

“That’s great.” She pauses for a moment. “Did you ever think they were going to get married?”

“No,” he says quickly. “But then again I never knew they were going to start dating when I introduced them, if I had, I would have never introduced them.”

“Grant,” she admonishes. “you realize they never met, we would have never met.”

“Ah,” he says, walking towards her. “I don’t think I could sacrifice that.” He kisses her lightly on the lips, before pulling away. “Even if it does mean my sister is marrying a dork.”

“Fitz is not a dork,” she stresses, kicking her legs uselessly towards him. “Did you tell Skye?”

“That she’s marrying a dork, I think she already knows.”

“No, idiot.” She rolls her eyes. “That Fitz asked you to be the Best Man.”

“Yeah, she was thrilled. Then she wanted to know if I was bringing a plus one. I think that was her way of asking whether or not I have a girlfriend.” He doesn’t look at her when he speaks.

“What did you tell her?” She doesn’t realize that it’s a test until the words come and she realizes she wants to hear a particular response.

He straightens up and turns towards her. “I told her,” he says softly, “that I would keep her posted.”

“Oh,” Jemma feels a bit disappointed, but tries not to let it show. “Okay.”

“I wasn’t sure if you needed to say you’re taking a plus one when you’re date is already invited to the wedding.”

“Seriously?” She feels her smile creep back onto her face.

“Look Jemma,” he says seriously. “I like you, a lot. And I know that we haven’t talked about this,” he gestures between the two of them. “But I like to think it’s something more.”

“It is,” she assures him, hopping off the counter. She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. “It is most definitely something more,” she breathes out, before kissing him softly.

xvi.

Skye finds out first.

“Oh CHRIST,” Skye shrieks, “My eyes.”

Moments earlier Grant and her had been engaged in a particularly heated make out session, when he had hoisted her onto the counter and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in closer. She had just been about to pull away and insist that he carry her away to the bedroom, when their flat door swung open and Skye strode in announcing her arrival with a chipper, “I’m here,” which instantly translated to a horrified shrill when she caught sight of Jemma and her brother intertwined.

“She’s the midnight lover in your bed?!”

“Skye,” Grant groans, slowly dropping Jemma onto the ground.

“I can’t believe this,” Skye breathes out. “I can’t believe it at all.”

“Look Skye,” Jemma walks towards the panicking girl. “I know that we should have told her, we wanted to. But erm, it wasn’t the right time.”

“When was the right time?! When I walked in on you two about to do the nasty on your kitchen counter.” Skye shrieks hysterically. “Ugh, I can’t think any surface in this house is safe.”

“Skye,” Grant butts in warningly. “It’s not that bad.”

“Grant, you’re sleeping with my fiancé’s best friend. Oh god, Fitz,” she groans slapping her forehead. “He’s going to freak.”

“You can’t tell him,” Jemma rushes forward.

“I can’t lie to him,” Skye says, “Not about something like this.”

“You’re not lying,” Jemma rationalizes. “You’re just omitting certain information.”

“Omission is lying by default.” Skye argues back.

“Please Skye, let me tell him,” Jemma pleads.

Skye sighs, “Fine, but you have to tell him before the wedding, because I’m not getting married with this lie hanging over my head.”

Grant huffs angrily, but Jemma wraps Skye in a big hug. “Thank you so much,” she murmurs in her ear.

“I can’t believe it,” Skye murmurs in wonder, pulling away from Jemma. “I mean, I never would have thought that you two. Seriously how did this happen?”

Jemma blushes deeply. “We were fighting,” she explains slowly, hoping that Grant will jump in and stop her from talking. “And one thing led to another and—.”

“Bow chicka wow wow,” Skye finishes with a huge smile. “I can’t believe it, my maid of honor and my brother. How great! Now I don’t have to set you two up.”

“Set us up?” Jemma’s smile falls off her face, as Grant wraps an arm around her. “You were planning on setting us up.”

“Yeah,” Skye brushes off, “at my wedding. I didn’t want you two to be the only ones not getting some that night. But obviously I was wrong, because you’ve both been getting some all along. You dog,” she winks at Grant. “Well I let you two get back to what you were doing.”

“Wait,” Jemma calls out. “Weren’t we supposed to go dress shopping?”

“Yeah, like you would have remembered if I didn’t come over here.” Jemma looks slightly ashamed. “Oh it’s fine, we’ll do it another day when you’re not _busy_.” She stresses, before skipping out of their apartment.

They stand in silence for a moment, before Jemma says. “Well that went well.”

xvii.

They agree that it would be better if she tells Fitz, and the sooner the better because they’re not sure how long Skye can hold onto their secret.

She invites Fitz over for another cheesy movie night, claiming that they’ll be watching Ice Spiders because Mega Piranha was horrible and it’s her turn to choose. He spends the first few minutes ranting about Jemma turning Skye into Bridezilla and how maybe he should have taken up Skye’s initial offer to elope.

She waits until there’s a lull, to start talking. “Fitz,” she begins slowly. “I’ve been seeing someone.”

“Oh really,” he says excitedly turning towards her. “Who?”

“Promise not to get mad,” she closes her eyes. “I’ve been seeing Grant.”

There’s a beat. “Grant who?”

“Grant Ward,” she finishes.

“And seeing as in you see other every day after work?” He asks.

“No,” she wrenches her eyes open. “Seeing as in I go to see him at the Zoo everyday. What do you think Fitz? I’ve been sleeping with him.”

His mouth opens and closes, gulping in air, as he searches for something to say. “You’re sleeping with him?”

“Yes,” she deflates instantly, a bit upset with herself for blowing the entire thing

“Do you have any bleach?” He asks, his head buries in his hands. “I just got a mental image.”

“Fitz,” she places a tentative arm on his shoulder, which he shakes off.

“How could you?” He looks up at her, his face reddening slowly. “After everything I told you about him? How he was such a jerk? How he made my life hell even before he found out that I was dating his sister? You even said that you didn’t like him, and you agreed with him. And now, you’re sleeping with him?”

It’s like he slapped her. “Fitz, I--.”

“Jemma,” he looks disappointed, “you’re supposed to be better than this.”

“Leopold Fitz,” she says in tempered voice. “Grant was doing his job. It is his job to point out the flaws in your system. I know that infuriates you to be told that your wrong, but he prevents you from getting in trouble because someone bypasses your system. He never made it personal, you made it personal. You were the one who was determined to believe that he hated you, and you never gave him a chance. So don’t get mad at me for giving him a chance.”

Fitz gapes at her. “He told me—.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she cuts him off. “You should leave,” she points towards the door. “Please,” she says when he starts to interrupt her. “And because you’re my friend, I won’t tell Skye what you said about her brother.” Fitz flinches.

She follows him to the door. He turns around and looks at her. “I awhile back, I thought you changed him. I was wrong, he changed you.”

She closes the door in his face.

xviii.

They find ways to be alone.

They hole up in his room, under his nice sheets (he has really nice sheets). She memorizes every inch of him, every scar, every mark. He takes her to limits she’s never imagined. He’s different from anyone she’s ever been with. He’s stronger, more forceful, but tender at the same time.

They fall asleep in front of the TV. He sprawls out on the couch, with her on top of him. They watch her favorite TV shows until they both fall asleep. He’s surprising attentive, and he asks a lot of questions, because he wants to understand. Every morning, when she wakes up, the TV is off, and there’s a blanket strewn across of the two of them, and he’s holding her close to him.

She loves watching him cook. It makes him lighter, like he’s almost a different person in the kitchen. She shouts out suggestions to him, like add a bit more salt, which he ignores, because she can’t change his recipes if he can’t change hers.

They have two bathrooms, but she finds herself using his a lot more. So much that she permanently moves her toothbrush into his.

His shower is bigger than hers, either way.

xix.

She doesn’t admit that he’s her boyfriend.

It sounds juvenile and doesn’t seem like the right label for him. But she decides that they’re dating.

He smiles when she tells him in the morning over coffee, and clasps her hand in his.

She admits that she reserves the right to call him boyfriend though, especially when other girls don’t realize that he is taken, which he laughs at and asks if he can do the same.

She says she’ll think about it.

xx.

She keeps her promise to Fitz and doesn’t say anything about his reaction to her dating Grant.

But she ignores Fitz, and it’s enough for Grant and Skye to notice. Grant recognizes that it has to do with him, and backs away from the subject. But Skye pursues it relentlessly which makes it difficult for Jemma because she had to see Skye regarding wedding stuff.

“Are you sure everything is good between you two?” Skye asks as she sticks another piece of chocolate cake in her mouth and groans. “Oh god, this is good. Can you add a raspberry filling to this one?” She asks the caterer.

“Everything is fine,” Jemma assures her, as the caterer hands Skye another slice of cake.

“It’s just that Fitz hasn’t seen you in a while, and I’m worried about him. He’s always moping around, like someone shot his puppy.” Skye takes a bite of the new cake. “Oh this is good. Do you think we could get this cake in the design we picked out.”

The caterer nods enthusiastically.

“Perfect,” Skye says excitedly. “My fiancé will be along later today to try out the cake himself, I’ll have him give you a call before he gets here.”

She leads Jemma out the door, and waits until they’re outside before continuing. “If it’s nothing between you guys, can you please talk to him and find out what’s going on?”

“Skye,” Jemma sighs. “I would, but I’m really busy with work.”

“Please,” Skye begs. “I’m worried that Fitz is getting cold feet.”

“He’s not,” Jemma says. And then she amends, “But I’ll talk to him and see what I can find out.”

“Oh thank you,” Skye squeals before pulling Jemma into a hug. “You’re amazing Jemma. Now,” she tugs Jemma along as they begin to walk away. “tell me what’s going on with you and my brother.”

xxi.

“Can I talk to you?”

It’s surprisingly Fitz that asks her first. And surprisingly him that made the first move. He stands in the doorway of her bedroom looking a bit sheepish.

“Who let you in?” She asks knowing fully well who let him in.

“Ward,” he mumbles.

“Oh,” she says.

“I’m sorry,” he looks straight ahead. “I know what I said hurt you, and I didn’t mean to question your judgment. I was just worried about you.”

“I appreciate the gesture,” she puts down the book she had been reading. “But it’s not your place.”

“Jemma we’ve been best friends since college, I think I’ve earned the right to feel protective of you.” He looks surprised, as if she suggested something preposterous.

“Protective, yes. Overprotective, no. You are my best friend, but you don’t get to judge the men I chose to date.”

“Fine,” he agrees. “I was just caught off guard. I’ve never been Ward’s fan, and you were right about why. We had a talk, and he seems to care about you, a lot.”

“You talked to him?” She gets up out of bed.

“Yeah, and he’s not half bad. I understand why you like him,” he stuffs his hands in his pockets.

“Okay,” she looks pleased. “Well I’m glad.”

“I was right about one thing,” he admits.

“And what’s that?”

“You have changed. But you’ve changed for the better.”

xxii.

The wedding goes off with some hitches, but it’s nothing that Jemma can’t handle. And of course, she has Grant's help.

Fitz fumbles with the ring, and nearly drops it. He even swears to lose it one point, and Grant steps in and reminds Fitz that Fitz had given him the ring earlier in order to prevent that from happening. Skye nearly trips over her dress four times and tears it a bit during the fourth time. Skye turns into a miserable sobbing mess after that, swearing that the tear was an omen for the divide that was sure to come in between her and Fitz after they got married. Skye's Aunt, a seamistress, steps in, however, and fixes the dress, while Jemma redos Skye's make up. The flower girl spills powder all over her dress right before she’s supposed to walk out. And the priest is late.

But in the end, when Fitz and Skye are sharing their first dance as a couple, it’s worth it. She sits on the sidelines watching them with nostalgic because her best friend is actually married.  

When the DJ calls the Best Man and Maid of Honor to the floor, Grant appears in front of her wearing a well-tailored suit, smiling with his hand held out to her. She feels butterflies swell in her stomach. 

He doesn’t ask her any cliché questions about their future as they sway from side to side. He doesn’t make any insinuations that this might be them in the future.

He does whisper that he loves her for the second time that day in her ears.

(He told her he loved her for the first time that morning, when she snuck out to meet him because Skye had insisted that if she could see Fitz the night before the wedding then Jemma couldn't see Grant the night before the wedding either.)

And when she catches the bouquet after Skye tosses it into the air, she meets his eyes and they share a glance.

Maybe it would be them some day.

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse the mistakes, I wrote this in a twelve hour period more or less. I just wanted to get this out here asap, and because it ended up so long, I decided to post in on here. Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed.


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